Hello All!
I've been following this site, done a lot of reading, and I'm ready to start my build. I can't start without sharing the drama though. I have been on ebay for 11 years, bought cars and motorcycles and everything in between, and never had a serious issue...until now.
I found a 1974 CB750K with 35000 miles in Ohio for 1325.00 I asked the seller a ton of questions, checked his feedback, and spoke with him on the phone. I was expecting to get a bike that had some cosmetic issues, being such a classic, but I was looking for a bike that was mechanically sound. What I got was far from what the seller said, awesome condition. After paying 300.00 to have the bike shipped, I discovered the bike would barely start and run, had oil leaking from every orifice, and had some of the worst backyard mechanic work I've ever seen. I took it to a local trustworthy shop to go through the bike and the repair list was almost 1500.00 The bike wasn't charging, had bad fork seals, tach seals, valve cover gaskets, bad ignition, dry rot tires, fouled up carbs, rusted out tank, broken speedo, wiring issues, and more. The dilemma I had to resolve was whether to keep the bike and pay to have it fixed, keep the bike and rebuild it myself, or sell it and cut my losses. With that last option, being the honest guy I am, I expected to lose about a thousand and have nothing to show for it.
What I decided to do was rebuild the bike from the frame up with the help of some of my coworkers. I have done a lot on work of cars, been riding motorcycles for almost 20 years, but never worked on them. I've got a build plan, been ordering more parts than I care to share with my wife, and I've made some good progress. I'll include pics along the way. I'm already a little behind on pics as my coworkers and I got super involved and totally stripped the whole bike in one afternoon. I plan to do better and look forward to sharing the better part of this bike project with you all. Thanks in advance for any pointers or constructive comments you can add along the way.